It’s hard to imagine a better college football weekend than last week’s endings. Remembering No. 7 Auburn’s fourth-down miracle against No. 25 Georgia or USC’s last-second field goal to take down No. 4 Stanford makes college football even more exciting to watch this week.
Besides watching your favorite team play, keep an eye out for these matchups as they will be making and breaking seasons. Here is some advice for how to go about your day:
No. 12 Texas A&M @ No. 22 LSU at 12:30 p.m. on CBS
After a rowdy Friday night, go ahead and sleep in until about 11 a.m. This will give you plenty of time to eat breakfast and shower. But come 12:30 p.m., you’ve got a SEC battle on your TV.
Johnny Manziel and Texas A&M (8-2, 4-2 SEC), will head to Baton Rouge to face LSU (7-3, 3-3 SEC) in a classic SEC West matchup. LSU is one game behind Texas A&M in the SEC West standings and no doubt will be looking to bounce back from its loss in Tuscaloosa to No. 1 Alabama. The Aggies, who average 49.2 points per game (fifth in the country), are trying to get their first win against a ranked opponent this year. Texas A&M will need their high-scoring offense due to the fact that they give up, on average, 47 points per game against ranked opponents.
Prediction: Texas A&M 42 – LSU 30
No. 17 Arizona State @ No. 14 UCLA at 4 p.m. on FOX
Putting your hunger to the side of the epic ending of the Texas A&M-LSU game, definitely go ahead and order a pizza. Your body needs to refuel for the Pac-12 South battle that is about to unfold in Pasadena, Calif.
Arizona State (8-2, 6-1 Pac-12) currently holds the lead in the Pac-12 South, but UCLA (8-2, 5-2 Pac-12) is just a game behind. If Arizona State wins this game, they will clinch the Pac-12 South and play in the Pac-12 championship come Dec. 7. UCLA and USC are both a game behind the Sun Devils and will play each other in the final game of the regular season. Arizona State already beat USC back on Sept. 28 and if they win on Saturday, they will hold tie-breaker advantages over both teams to clinch the division, no matter if they win or lose against Arizona. We could see the winner of this game against Pac-12 North favorite: Oregon.
Prediction: Arizona State 31 – UCLA 27
No. 4 Baylor @ No. 10 Oklahoma State at 5 p.m. on ABC
As the sun starts to set and your appetite is still overwhelmed from your last meal, a national title hopeful may fall, just like the thought of doing homework instead of watching football. I mean let’s be honest, homework is for Sundays.
In the midst of the Pac-12 battle, get ready to change the channel to ABC to watch the undefeated Baylor Bears (9-0, 6-0 Big 12) head to Stillwater, Okla., to face the Cowboys (9-1, 6-1 Big 12). Not only will this game determine who sits atop the Big 12, Baylor is one of the four remaining undefeated teams in the nation, currently ranked No. 4. A loss to Oklahoma State would no doubt ruin their national championship hopes and could cost them the Fiesta Bowl appearance the Big 12 winner is guaranteed. And guess what, Baylor hasn’t beaten Oklahoma State in Stillwater since 1939.
Prediction: Baylor 38 – Oklahoma State 40
Follow Andrew Bantly on Twitter @abant3